ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, June 4, 1996                  TAG: 9606040073
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-2  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press 

COUNCIL URGES TUITION FREEZE FOR MOST IN VA. INCREASES SUGGESTED FOR LAW SCHOOLS

The council abided by a law the General Assembly passed last session freezing tuition rates, but the law does not cover graduate or nonresident students or charges for room and board.

``We are seeing a rise [in tuition] in professional programs because there is more elasticity there,'' said council spokesman Mike McDowell.

The tuition-freeze law followed college cost increases during the 1980s that far outpaced the state's per-capita income growth and made Virginia's colleges among the nation's most expensive.

The average overall cost for tuition, fees and room and board at a state college or university for a Virginia resident is $8,386.

The tuition freeze will move Virginia from the nation's second most costly to sixth. The University of Virginia will slip three spaces to 11th.

Fees covering athletics, health services, student unions, recreational facilities and programs, campus transportation and capital debt service will increase, and room and board will increase an average of 2 percent.

Of Virginia's 15 four-year colleges, nine will charge an additional 2.2 percent to out-of-state students.

Under the council's proposal, the average overall bill for tuition, fees and room and board for nonresident undergraduates will increase from $14,155 to $14,471. Out-of-state students at William and Mary and UVa are charged an additional premium to help defray costs for in-state students, McDowell said.

Last year, 16 percent of Virginia college students came from outside the state and accounted for 35 percent of revenues, he said.

For Clinch Valley College, Virginia State University and Norfolk State University, the council agreed to lower out-of-state tuitions because they draw students from special populations. Clinch Valley serves students in the extreme southwestern tip of Virginia, while Virginia State and Norfolk State are predominantly black colleges.

Tuitions and fees for community colleges remained the same.

The council also denied permission for Blue Ridge Community College to hold classes in Harrisonburg.

``There's no justification for the expenditure. We shouldn't have to put a college campus on everyone's doorstep,'' said council Chairman Val McWhorter.

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